Thoughts by Founder of Karol Marketing, Stefan Lepkowski
It is a common misperception that great creative communication campaigns reveal themselves in a divine moment of inspiration. In my experience, they take perspiration and time.
We might have a sudden idea, but to form every aspect of a winning campaign around that spark takes serious graft. At Karol we have to get our collective heads together to work out every detail, making sure nothing gets missed and that everything fits together.
Recently, we’ve been working on ideas for a campaign that will help set our own business apart from the crowd. We wanted to celebrate the way Karol think, the work we do and why it resonates with audiences. My goal was to tell a story that would engage people with Karol as a brand. I wanted something that would make the visit of everyone who comes through our doors, be they a journalist, a client or a business partner, a memorable one.
We began looking for our own Purple Cow’ moment by thinking about what makes us different. Purple Cow moments are based on the idea that if you saw a Purple Cow in a field, you’d immediately stop, take a photo and share it with everyone you know. So we thought about what great Karol stories we could tell and what people’s first impressions of Karol are. That’s when the nucleus of an idea began to form; the first thing that makes an impact on visitors to our offices is the fact that it is a pub – well, an old one.
When I first found Karol’s offices in the heart of Newcastle’s creative Ouseburn district, ‘Ye Old Fighting Cocks’ – as it was then – made a huge first impression. Whilst it was boarded up with signs calling for a new landlord, I could see it was a tall, imposing building, with plenty of space and amazing views right down the Tyne and into Newcastle. I knew it was the creative space I’d been looking for. Our building is important to us; it’s a point of difference, and the fact it’s such a contrast to regular city offices says a lot about who we are. That’s why many of the pub’s original Fighting Cock mascots still sit proudly in our reception.
In order to explore how we could celebrate our building, we began by researching its history. Our work started with a visit to the Tyne and Wear Archives to find original plans and historical correspondence for the pub. Looking at these documents, we realised there were many similarities between the building’s old use and the new. Both are fostering grounds for great ideas and both are places for conversation. I could see so many dots that could be joined up.
But it wasn’t just a similarity, but a point of difference between the building’s uses that provided the perfect opportunity. What brings people through our doors now are award-winning campaigns. But what used to bring people into our building was beer. What if, we thought, we told the Karol story – with beer?
So we brewed up our ‘Old Pub’ campaign in order to give every guest to our offices a specially designed Karol Marketing beer pack – three local beers inside a rustic (and 100% recyclable carry case) for people to take home as a memory that’s as delicious as our ideas.
We partnered with Brinkburn St. Brewery, an independent microbrewery on our doorstep, to develop our own special brew. It was thirsty work, but after a few tastings we managed to craft ‘Geordie Inspiration’. But Karol campaigns always have more than meets the eye, which is why we created a fun, pun-riddled label for our inspirational ale. The carry case, which houses our ‘Geordie Inspiration’ – just like the Old Pub houses us – was the perfect place to tell the story of the Old Pub’s journey from housing beer drinkers to PR thinkers. It’s our ‘Tale told in Ale.’
When the team and I put all these pieces together, we knew the various elements of our Purple Cow had crystallised and we knew exactly what field to put it in. By taking a photo with everyone who comes in to meet with us and posting their images to social media, we can celebrate every great visitor, idea and conversation that gets started at The Old Pub.
It’s real hard work to make great ideas work. But without great ideas, life would be un-beer-able.
